Chapter 41: Meeting an Old Friend in a Foreign Land
The person wore a fisherman's hat with the brim pressed down low, obscuring their appearance.
Su Ling was startled and quickly stepped on the gas; the sedan shot forward like an arrow.
Soon, the sound of a motorcycle engine roared from behind, and Su Ling immediately floored the gas pedal.
The person on the motorcycle was even faster, executing a drift, and the bike slid to a stop in front of the car.
In the blink of an eye, the person dismounted from the motorcycle. Su Ling felt a bit nervous and tightly clenched the steering wheel.
Through the pouring rain, she could soon discern the features of the person.
It was a woman.
This brought some relief to Su Ling.
Approaching the front of the car, the woman knocked on it with gloved hands. "Dr. Su."
Su Ling was suddenly stunned. Did this person know her?
The woman took off her hat, revealing long hair and a pair of large almond eyes.
"Guan Yuxin!"
Su Ling excitedly got out of the car.
"How come you're in Lizhou?"
"Indeed, it's you."
Guan Yuxin reached out and gave Su Ling a big hug.
Su Ling hugged her back.
Guan Yuxin, her classmate, is a writer.
In fact, before the apocalypse, the two were not particularly familiar. Guan Yuxin would occasionally check on her health and would go to see her, and she would only greet her when she had free time.
But now it was different. Not counting Su Rou and Wei Zixuan, Guan Yuxin was the only acquaintance Su Ling had encountered in the apocalypse. The joy in her heart was simply indescribable.
As they were talking, the rain started pouring heavily again. Su Ling quickly let Guan Yuxin into the car.
Twenty minutes later, she finally learned why Guan Yuxin was staying in Lizhou.
That day she came to Lizhou to meet a publisher, but afterward, she got trapped there. The publisher had been killed, and the building where they had the meeting had collapsed. The only ones who managed to escape were Guan Yuxin and a security guard. Since then, they had been temporarily staying at a shelter in Lizhou.
Su Ling immediately asked, "Is it the Zhongxing community?"
Guan Yuxin shook her head.
"No, do you know about Zhongxing?"
Su Ling didn't hide anything and immediately told Guan Yuxin about her experiences in Sheng Hongye's base, as well as the encounter with Shen Laohe and others.
Upon learning that the base where Su Ling had stayed had also fallen, Guan Yuxin was taken aback.
Learning that she had actually traveled with President Sheng, who was also a skilled fighter, left Guan Yuxin wide-eyed with surprise.
It was like material straight out of a novel! Sheng Hongye was just too perfect.
Guan Yuxin then began talking about her own base.
Their base was relatively small, comprising only four people. Apart from her and the security guard who managed to escape, there was a professor in his sixties and a salesman who had come to Lizhou for work.
During these days, they had been holed up in an underground basement, completely unaware of the events happening outside. However, they did feel two earthquakes during this time. Today, due to the lack of supplies, she and the security guard had ventured out to scavenge.
Recognizing Su Ling's car, Guan Yuxin approached to try her luck and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was indeed her.
The gun she was holding wasn't a real handgun; it was just an ordinary lighter.
Hearing all this, Su Ling couldn't help but laugh and cry. Upon learning that the group hadn't eaten for a day, she quickly took out bread, ham sausages, and a bottle of mineral water.
Guan Yuxin didn't hesitate and started eating.
Due to the continuous rain over the past ten days, the ground floor supermarket was damp, and most of the items were no longer edible. Even the supermarket where Su Ling had previously stayed had most of its items soaked in water. This meant that the truly difficult times were beginning, and finding food would be even more challenging.
Ten minutes later, Guan Yuxin had also eaten her fill.
Looking at Su Ling, she asked, "Do you have any plans or a destination in mind?"
Su Ling shook her head. She had been hoping to find her benefactor, but it had been over a month now, and the chances seemed slim. So, for the time being, her focus was solely on survival.
Guan Yuxin immediately suggested, "Then come to my place. Everyone there is friendly, and we can figure things out together."
Su Ling hesitated for a moment before agreeing, "Alright."
The two immediately drove to the location Guan Yuxin and the security guard had agreed upon and saw a person on a motorcycle waiting in the middle of the road.
Guan Yuxin got out of the car and signaled to the person.
The person ran over, and indeed, he was wearing a set of dark blue security guard uniform.
Guan Yuxin immediately introduced, "His name is Han Qiang, and this is my classmate, Su Ling."
"Hello," Su Ling stretched out her hand first.
Han Qiang quickly shook Su Ling's hand. "Hi, Miss Su."
Su Ling noticed that he only had a few boxes of canned food and some damp instant noodles in his hands. She immediately said, "I still have some food in the car. Let's go back and share it with them before we continue searching."
Han Qiang immediately got into the car, and Su Ling gave him some bread and ham sausages. Han Qiang expressed his gratitude as he ate. Su Ling learned that for the past few days, they had been surviving on the gas canister in the basement and a bag of rice, basically eating porridge every day. Seeing so much food now, Han Qiang was almost moved to tears with excitement.
Watching Han Qiang eat in such a mess, Su Ling couldn't help but sigh.
She thought that surviving in the coming days would be even more difficult. Sometimes she wondered if dying would be a relief.
But then, her own negative thoughts startled her. Why was she suddenly so pessimistic? Choosing to die would render her reinforcement system useless.
As she gazed at the collapsed building, a bold idea arose in Su Ling's heart. She not only wanted to survive but also to create the strongest fortress where no zombies could penetrate.
However, without Sheng Hongye's help, the chances of success would be greatly reduced, yet she had no regrets.
In fact, she still didn't fully understand why she had a sudden urge to leave and why she was so resolute about it. There might be some answer deep inside her heart, but Su Ling didn't want to dwell on it.
About ten minutes later, they arrived at the small base Guan Yuxin had mentioned.
It was indeed a basement, tightly closed with no water leakage. The space wasn't large, about 30 square meters, with a few makeshift beds for resting, a simple kitchen, and a small bathroom.
The old professor, surnamed Bai, was amiable and talkative. He taught at the medical school, and upon learning that Su Ling was a doctor, he engaged her in conversation.
As they sat on the ground, everyone quickly got acquainted. Compared to the others, Su Ling appeared more reserved.
After sharing their experiences, the conversation shifted to the current situation.
Learning that it had been raining for more than ten days, causing most of the supplies to be soaked, the old professor grew concerned.
"It seems that it won't be long before there's nothing left to eat."
Su Ling also sighed, realizing that most of the residential buildings had collapsed, and the rice and food would have already been ruined by the rain. The living conditions had indeed become extremely challenging.
Salesman Chen Yu, however, remained optimistic. "It's only been a little over a month. We should still be able to find food. Tomorrow, we can split up and spend some time searching. We're bound to find something to eat."
Guan Yuxin nodded in agreement, reassuring the old professor, "That's right, Uncle Bai. As long as we're alive, we won't let you go hungry."
Han Qiang and Chen Yu immediately chimed in with supportive words. Seeing this harmonious scene, Su Ling relaxed her mind for the first time.
However, before she could relax for long, there was a knock on the door from outside.
A familiar voice called out, "Miss Su!"